INDIANAPOLIS -- A mother and daughter were hospitalized on Sunday after they were purposely plowed down by a man on Indianapolis' northwest side, police said.

Officers were called to the intersection of Kessler Boulevard and 56th Street around 5 p.m. on Saturday after witnesses said a man in a black SUV struck a woman and girl who were standing in the median, advertising a car wash for the Indiana School For The Deaf.

According to the police report, Derek Dewitt, 43, was driving between 60 and 70 mph when he struck the victims, and then waited by the vehicle for police to arrive.

"We thought it was an accident, but when the driver got out of the car, he made statements that this was not an accident," said Sgt. Paul Thompson, who indicated Dewitt likely did not know the woman and girl.

Witnesses said that Dewitt told them, "Yeah, I (expletive) hit them. They (expletive) dead now, ain't they?"

Tina Carter-Boozer, 41, and her 15-year-old daughter were transported to Methodist Hospital in critical condition.

Superintendent of the Indiana School For The Deaf David Geeslin said the girl is a student at the school.

"Why here? Why in that place? Why those particular people?" he asked, through an interpreter. "I have heard the words 'victim of a hate crime.' I'm wondering if that is really what's going on, and I have to say, that's a very scary thought."

Thompson said Dewitt will undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

"We all know rational human beings don't drive around looking for a human target to strike," he said.

Dewitt was arrested on preliminary charges of attempted murder, battery with injury and criminal recklessness.